ball testing

[Capella]

I just received an email that I have been chosen as a tester for Taylormade Project(s) balls for a German online magazine. Basically I will receive a dozen balls for free and am expected to post about my experience with them on my twitter and YouTube channel and maybe in my blog as well as in their online community. I want to take this seriously and not just play the balls during my usual rounds, but also really compare them to the balls I usually play (the Wilson DX2 soft). Given that I don't have access to a launch monitor and I am really far from being a robot when it comes to hitting balls, any ideas for some repeatable tests I can put the balls through?

I am thinking things like chipping or pitching to a certain landing spot and see how much rollout I get from there. Comparing driving distances I can do as well (as I have posted a while ago, my drive seems to be the most consistent shot in my bag). Other ideas for tests a high handicapper can do without making it completely random?

 

[srixon 1]

Just play your normal game with them and see how they go.

 

[inc0gnito]

It’ll be difficult to be scientific about it when in the course. Too many variables.

A suggestion might be to play a round with your normal ball but for each stroke play a second shot from the exact same spot with the test ball. Obviously you would just pick up the test ball each time after you strike it.

Might give you a realistic ‘in situ’ comparative experience of the feels and on course results for the new ball vs old ball.

 

[ademac]

How the ball feels off the putter face is always important and easily comparable.
I would take myself onto the course on a quiet day and find a quiet spot and hit a range of shots from 120yds and in with my regular ball and the test balls.
You would soon get plenty of feedback as to how the ball performs in the short game.

 

[backwoodsman]

I think you are being too "serious" about it.

They dont want you to be a robot or scientific - they can do that themselves. They know who you are (and presumably your level of ability) - they just want you to play your normal game with the balls, and then to say what you think about them.

Enjoy !

 

[Imurg]

When I tested the Tour Softs a few weeks back I played rounds exclusively using the TS, some with my normal ball and some swapping between them. I'd hit a shot and sometimes put the TS down and play a similar shot to guage a difference - it was never going to be exactly the same but you get a feel for it. Putting was done on the practice green and out on the course. On the practice green I'd take a TS, a ProV1 and X, a Z-Star, AD333Tour, Chromie etc etc and hit the same putt with each ball - you soon get a feel for any differences of preferences.
I did all this on rounds where I went too worried about the score - I was testing, not playing for handicap.

 

[duncan mackie]

I'm currently testing the Project (a) for myself; much more important than any output for a magazine!

Whilst I agree with most of the observations others have posted, as can be seen from the wording used it's almost impossible with such subjective assessment to differentiate between different/better/worse even within your own game.

A simple example - chipping. A ball that reacts differently to the one you are used to must be a bad thing in the short term. Unless you literally spend hours a day for a week chipping with the new one you aren't going to get to the point where you can appreciate what that ball can do for your chipping - all you will end up with is a new feeling of what's normal!

You can use a range of balls on a launch monitor to get the numbers for you with each (which is how I ended up with this ball...) and time on the course to get some sort of evaluation of what those numbers really mean to your game (the changing conditions over the last couple of months have made this bit difficult for me) but ultimately it comes down to the simple equation of whether you end up with any real preference for that ball over the one you currently use.

Just enjoy the game!

 

[Slab]

I only really have one test for a different ball. Drop it on concrete and see if I like how it bounces (sound, return height etc) Some are dead sounding and don't bounce up too far while others have a much higher spring and appealing sound

That's it really

If its a dull/low bounce ball that'll be in my mind when I hit it off the tee because my preference is the opposite

 

[shortgame]

Some great advice in here already

If Germany's anything like the UK at the moment (baked to dust) then long game testing will be pretty pointless due to the randomness of the bounces far outweighing spin rates, carry distances etc

I'd therefore judge more by feel and how the balls perform (spin etc) around the greems

But overall I wouldn't worry too much about it. As the poster above said they test performance with robots so will juast want some honest real life feedback and will likely know the ability levels (hcp) of the testers

Enjoy!

 

[Orikoru]

If it was me I'd probably just play a round on my own with two balls, one of the new ones and one of your normal ones. You won't be hitting the exact same shot with each (apart from on the tee), but over the course of 18 holes it should even out that you've hit enough long irons, short irons, chips and putts with each to get a feel for which you prefer.

 

[jim8flog]

If it is a normal round where you have to play one ball only choose holes which are similar and play your normal ball on one hole and the trial ball on another.

Putting- it is easy to try out on the practice green similarly chipping and pitching if you have the facilities.

If you usually play DX2 soft remember you are not quite comparing like for like as the Project A is a 3 piece ball.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I would have thought a lot of this is about feel. You are not off scratch so you are not judging the ball in terms of draw, fade, back spin etc.

How does it feel off the club face, does it sound nice, does it feel good?

Do your distances drop off, are they the same, do they increase?

Does the ball go higher / lower, does it spin more ie slice or hook?

Does it feel okay off the putter?


That is what I would be looking for. As a higher h/c the test is less scientific as inevitably you will not repeat your shots as frequently. As someone has already said, if they wanted that they would stick with a robot. You are human, give human answers. Enjoy, sounds fun.

 

[Capella]

Thanks for all your suggestions so far. To be honest, I don't care much about what Taylormade or the GolfPost magazine expect me to do or say (apart from following their guidelines about how often and where I committed to give my feedback). I am not doing this for them. I am doing this for myself and also for my (few yet very nice and loyal) social media followers. Every time I watch a ball testing vid, even when it is done by some of my favourite YouTubers like Peter Finch, Rick Shiels or the like, I can't help but thinking that they are pretty pointless. Rick Shiels is probably doing the best ones, to be honest, because he collects the same kind of data for every ball he tests, making them as comparable as possible.

The main question I am trying to answer is: can I tell this specific ball apart from another model in a kind of blind test, so when I don't know which ball I am hitting at that moment. Because if I am honest, as long as I don't take a really hard cheap marble like a range ball, I don't feel any difference usually. Especially not when putting. Not even when I use a 3piece urethane covered ball like the ChromeSoft or proV against a 2piece Ethylen covered distance model like the Srixon SoftFeel or the Wilson DX2 soft. But I never systematically tested this. Like after putting with two different balls 20 times each and paying a lot of attention to the feel, if I were then to white out the labels with a white marker, could I afterwards tell them apart just by the feel? Same for chipping and pitching and maybe even for full shots.

I can test them on our practice course, which is basically a 6 hole par 3 course without any bunkers or hazards. There is normally not much going on there and I should be able to play two different balls from the same position for each shot, for example, or even just repeat the same shot six times, three times with one ball model and three times with the other. It is even possible to use it as a kind of driving range but retrieve the balls later. Playing a round with two different balls on the main course is harder to do, usually there is too much traffic for that. But maybe in the evening I could give that a try as well.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I just received an email that I have been chosen as a tester for Taylormade Project(s) balls for a German online magazine. Basically I will receive a dozen balls for free and am expected to post about my experience with them on my twitter and YouTube channel and maybe in my blog as well as in their online community. I want to take this seriously and not just play the balls during my usual rounds, but also really compare them to the balls I usually play (the Wilson DX2 soft). Given that I don't have access to a launch monitor and I am really far from being a robot when it comes to hitting balls, any ideas for some repeatable tests I can put the balls through?

I am thinking things like chipping or pitching to a certain landing spot and see how much rollout I get from there. Comparing driving distances I can do as well (as I have posted a while ago, my drive seems to be the most consistent shot in my bag). Other ideas for tests a high handicapper can do without making it completely random?

I've done a few on my youtube channel and like you don't have access to launch monitor data so simply tested on the course and picked a par three, four and five, filmed me playing the holes and using the balls and gave my thoughts. Not done one in a while so these examples are a bit raw and unrefined but may give you some ideas

https://youtu.be/QDdKKBxgtCY

https://youtu.be/Mn8EV4adqNU

https://youtu.be/L1ybfzxDZWg

 

[duncan mackie]

If you have a putter insert you probably won't get the same level of feedback - I would say feel but the reality is that the audio message we get contributes far more than any feedback to the hands!

Just play it and draw your own conclusions

 

[nickjdavis]

If you have a putter insert you probably won't get the same level of feedback - I would say feel but the reality is that the audio message we get contributes far more than any feedback to the hands!

Spinal Tap turned up to 11 on the Walkman whilst putting somewhat reduces any audible feedback you might get.

 

[jim8flog]

Spinal Tap turned up to 11 on the Walkman whilst putting somewhat reduces any audible feedback you might get.

Therefore, the use of an artificial device to listen to music or a broadcast, whether or not through headphones, while making a stroke or for a prolonged period of time during a stipulated round is a breach of Rule 14-3...

 

[nickjdavis]

Therefore, the use of an artificial device to listen to music or a broadcast, whether or not through headphones, while making a stroke or for a prolonged period of time during a stipulated round is a breach of Rule 14-3...

Well...the OP was talking about playing on his 6 hole par 3 course or on the main course during the evening when it was quiet.....nothing about a stipulated round.

Interestingly....the draft version of the 2019 rules (as of March 2019) says this...

(4) [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Audio and Video[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT].
• [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Allowed[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT].
[FONT=Wingdings,Wingdings][FONT=Wingdings,Wingdings]
[/FONT][/FONT]Listening to audio or watching video on matters unrelated to the competition being played (such as a news report or background music).
[FONT=Wingdings,Wingdings][FONT=Wingdings,Wingdings]
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]But [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]in doing so, consideration should be shown to others (see Rule 1.2).

 

[shortgame]

Great. Earphones will be on in comps next year when I'm drawn with certain loudmouths 🙉🎧

 

[jim8flog]

Great. Earphones will be on in comps next year when I'm drawn with certain loudmouths 

That does not mean you can wear ear defenders